History of Jeep Wranglers in Cinema

While we all love seeing Jeeps getting dirty on the trails, what about on the big screen? Jeep Wranglers have played a key role in many movies and TV shows. Here are our top 5 favorite ones.

Jurassic Park

Our first and likely most everyone’s first, is the gray with red striped Jurassic Park Jeep Wrangler. This Jeep Wrangler turned a whole new generation of kids into fans with its rugged looks and capability. Plus, being chased by dinosaurs helped with build its “cool” factor.

According to various sources, the Jeeps in the movie were 1992 Wrangler Sahara YJ. Throughout the movie a variety different Jeep Wranglers were seen with some sporting winches, flood lights and brown soft-tops.

If this Jeep still captures your attention there are many online guides to building your own.

Tomb Raider

While Jurassic Park featured pretty scaled down Jeep Wranglers, Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame was having none of that. During the movie, Croft uses the Jeep Wrangler to fight bad guys and tackle inhospitable terrain. Her Jeep had many modifications to it from its original stock form.

The modified Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Croft drove captured fans attention and Jeep built a limited run of 1,001 Rubicon Tomb Raider Edition Wranglers in 2003. These Wranglers have all the standard Rubicon features plus 16-inch Alcoa forged aluminum wheels, Tomb Raider badging and Mopar accessories like a light bar, riveted fender flares, tubular grille guard, diamond-plated bumper guard and more. On the inside, there were many unique items like Dark Slate fabric seats with red accent stitching down the center, silver surround instrument panel bezel, red seat belts, and a Tomb Raider badge with serial number. Like the Jeep Wrangler in the movie, it was painted Bright Silver.

Due in part to its tie to the movie and its gear, the Tomb Raider Rubicon has become a highly collectible Jeep Wrangler.

Cars

We don’t often think of kids cartoon movies as offering cool vehicles, but the animated movie Cars features an iconic Jeep Wrangler in the form of Sarge. Sarge is a 1941 Willys military Jeep and its rugged exterior matches his personality.

During the movies, Sarge sells military surplus out of his supply hut and plays the straight man role next to the wacky VW bus Filmore.

In the second movie, Sarge plays the role of hero as he is the one to replace Lightning McQueen’s fuel which ultimately saves his life.

Dukes Of Hazzard

Who can forget Daisy Duke’s white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 “Golden Eagle” that was nicknamed “Dixie.” While the Jeep makes several appearances through the shows and on the movie, you may not know that Daisy’s first vehicle was a yellow 1974 Plymouth Road Runner with a black stripe along the sides and over the roof. That car was destroyed during a second-season episode by Bo and Luke Duke after the accelerator stuck.

Throughout the series, Daisy’s 1980 Jeep CJ-7 was improved on with the words “Dixie” added along the sides as well as “Golden Eagle.” Plus, at times, the Jeep has an automatic or manual transmission as well as a slightly different roll-bars and paint job.

McGyver

The man who could fashion a bomb out of toothpicks famously drove a Jeep throughout many scenes in the show. Most often this was a brown Jeep Wrangler YJ. Also, quite often, whenever there was an army involved, numerous Jeeps were used in the filming. The plain nature of his Jeep fits his personality and helps show him as a resourceful guy with a vehicle to match.

Whether tackling difficult terrain while shooting at enemies or running from dinosaurs, the Jeep Wrangler has left its mark on cinema screens across the world. We can’t wait to see the next high-profile movie with a Jeep Wrangler in it. Although, we can already tell we will love it!